Innocence
by Loves-Chihuahuas
Summary: When one gives up the Death Note, they lose more than just their memories, though Ryuk neglected to mention this... for kicks. As vile as the notebook owner became while in possession, they shall become equally as innocent. Light murdered thousands...
1. Chapter 1

_**Innocence**_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Death Note, nor do I own a whore. O.O'…yeah, I'm not a pimp.

**Warning:** The authoress is not sure about anything, especially the cookies looking perversely at her from the kitchen cupboard! WAAAAH! TWIST AND SHOUT!

**Important Info:** This will be mystery/humor/hurt/comfort/angst/horror and whatever else it evolves into. Will be multi-chapter. This takes place during and directly after Light's imprisonment, and it's best if you have some knowledge of that timeframe. Light's age is approximately late 17 to early 18 in this fic. And I changed it so that Light is bound by zip-ties instead of handcuffs- just as effective. A line break will separates scenes/points of view/time skips/ etc.

**Better Summary:** When Light gave up possession of the shinigami Ryuk's notebook in the manga and anime, he had a sudden, marked difference in his entire demeanor, as if he were 'innocent'… What if, when the owner of a Death Note gives up their possession of said notebook, they become as innocent as they were vile?...In other words, as 'evil' the notebook owner became during their possession of the notebook, they will become equally as innocent when they give up their possession. What kind of impact would that have on Misa, and more importantly, Light Yagami, aka Kira?

_**Innocence**_

_Subtitle: Trickle, Tickle, Wicked Little Memories_

Light sat in his cell, his eyes smoldering as he stared at the bars of his barren room. Ryuk, twisted and gnarled into an interesting shape resembling a mangled pretzel, listened boredly as Light talked on supposedly to 'himself.'

Hopping around, lusting for apples, he heard the magic word drop from the honeyed mouth of the fiendish boy, "…forfeit…"

Chuckling slightly, the death god unraveled himself from his bent position of want, his disproportionately grotesque body crackling as his joints realigned. He turned from the fascinating human, counting the seconds internally until he would lose more than just his memory…

"Hyuk, hyuk, this should be… _interesting_," Ryuk giggled as he glided through the many-layered cell and building walls of steel and reinforced concrete. Reaching the fresh air of the outside world, the shinigami laughed again as the fortieth second passed since the handsome boy had given up possession of his Death Note, unfurling his greasy, feathered crow wings. "Hyuk, hyuk, I wonder if he will have his mind at all? No one's ever gone that far down the path of devils and demons…hyuk, hyuk, hyuk…" Ryuk snickered obscenely at the young serial killer's fate, unbeknownst to him despite his meticulous planning.

The damp, limp feathers of the shinigami beat once, twice, thrice, and he was winging his inky way across the skies of Tokyo, away from the Kira Investigation Headquarters, and the soon to be shocked team there within.

_Linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak line_

In his cell, Light Yagami betrayed no emotion, sitting on the cold concrete ground, his hands and feet bound by zip-tie, counting down the seconds until he would supposedly lose all his memories relating to the Death Note—or, at least, that was what the shinigami, a creature of death and deceit, had told him.

No, Light, and the near-perfect brain encased in his pretty little skull, knew better than to completely trust everything the shinigami told him, and it was no different with his forfeit of the Death Note.

'_Twenty… Twenty-one… Twenty-two…" _At twenty-five seconds after he had given up his killing device, the young man gulped slightly, involuntarily, his adams apple dipping down in his thin throat- the only sign of his mounting anxiety.

'_Twenty-seven… Twenty-eight…" _His fingers, long numbed from the lack of circulation afforded by the ironically bright orange zip-ties, twitched slightly, the light from the overhead, harsh florescent lights, reflecting and bouncing off his impeccable nails.

_Linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak line_

L, monitoring the young college student and the blonde model, noticed the small flash of rebounded light and turned his full attention to the screen showing the quiet, handsome youth.

Placing his thumb to his worn lips, the detective focused his overly-bright, dilated eyes on the still figure. No, not quite still, L noted, seeing the boy's lips quiver slightly, as if counting.

_Linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak line_

'_Thirty-eight… Thirty-nine…'_ Light's heart constricted as his anxiety reached its climax, half-expecting to feel that same heart go into jerking, painful spasms then motionless, as his victims' often did.

At forty seconds after giving up ownership of his notebook, Light Yagami closed his eyes, waiting, kneeling on the floor with his head bent in some mockery of a prayer stance.

…

…

…

…

…

Wet. Something felt…wet. On his head-no, that's not quite it…it felt wet _in_ his head. Light kept his eyes shut tight as the unpleasant, though not painful, feeling of having wet hair trickle through his mind increased. It almost _tickled,_ he realized with an involuntary shudder, like someone was running their soaked fingers through his hair, except inside his skull. It felt too intimate, but, then again, one's mind was as private and intimate as could be… Was this what it felt like to lose his memories?

The sensation increased, and knowing that it had been well past the forty seconds, Light felt slightly panicked that he had his memories still, still knew about the Death…death…d…d….d…. de…do…do..dog?, no…di…du..da…da…da…dad? Dad?

"D-Dad?"

The voice broke out from the previously firmly closed lips, now parted mellifluously, soft, so so so soft it almost wasn't caught by the hyper-sensitive microphones scattered strategically throughout his cell.

_Linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak line_

Sitting on his plush, delicately carved sofa, L cocked his head sharply to the side at his prisoner's unexpected utterance. Did he perhaps want his father? L ceased rolling the cherry hard candy around in his mouth and leaned farther towards the screen displaying the live feed from Light's cell.

L watched in slight bemusement as the young genius opened his previously closed eyes and looked curiously around his cell. Hmmm? What was this? L balanced the wet red candy on the tip of his outstretched tongue. His eyes, L saw at once, were no longer narrowed, like he wasn't devoting his energy to intensely focusing and analyzing his surroundings… What was causing these odd, though minor, behavioral changes? Was it a ruse, or was Kira perhaps controlling Light?

L retreated his tongue from the cool air of the room and brought his molars down on the red candy, crunching loudly through it and waking the dozing figure of Matsuda sitting a few paces from him, as expected.

Pressing a button on one of his intercoms, L murmured past his candy, "Mr. Yagami, I think we need you back up here- Watari will be there momentarily." He had a feeling that something was off…

_Linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak line_

Light opened his eyes, for, he remembered, his name was Light, and Light did not keep his eyes closed when it was so bright around him—eyes were closed for rest, when it was dark. It was not dark in this room.

Hmm, it was bright, bright light, light, light, Light. Yes, he was Light, Light Yagami, bright light, Light was bright, la, la~

Looking around with unbridled interest, Light was first surprised to see the walls of this room were not blue—who had changed the colors of his bedroom? Whoever did it certainly did not know that he did not like icky grey.

The young man looked around at the very odd room he was in, finally noticing the bars in front of him. Light blinked in surprise, wondering what the bars were there for—his room didn't have bars! He didn't like those bars, he would get rid of them and tell his parents that he would prefer his door back, the one with the green wood and blue dinosaurs.

Light reached for the bars, but it didn't quite work. Where were his hands? Unperturbed, he tried again, certain that it would work this time. Still nothing, and his arms remained behind his back. Frowning once more, Light strained his back and shoulders, his muscles clenching and working, but they remained behind his back. "Uah!" Light grunted, not pleased at not being able to free his hands. Why were they stuck behind him?

"Aeeehhmmm," Light whined, attempting to scoot forward towards the bars, only to see that his feet were also bound, by a bright orange zip-tie by the looks of it.

"No," He stated mulishly at the zip-tie, wishing it would just release him already.

Light was not happy; he couldn't move how he wanted to, and this- this wasn't his room at all! He whined again, looking around frantically. He did not like this place. He wanted out out out out out out out outoutoutoutoutout.

"Mommy?" He questioned in a tight voice, soft and unsure.

…

Receiving no answer, he tried again, louder, "D-Daddy?"

…

Still no answer.

His heart raced- he did not like this, he wanted Mommy, Daddy, they left him, they left him here in this place that was not his room, it was grey, they were gone, he couldn't move could not move, he wanted out, out, he wanted his mommy and daddy, they left him, they're gone, left gone gone gone left abandoned gone forever, he can't see them, they're not here, gone gone gone gone gone gone gone gone gone gone gonegonegonegonegonegonegone

His breathing increased, his heart hurt, this wasn't fun at all. His inhalation became labored and his face screwed up. He sniffled, tears forming and falling in his fear and frustration. Desperately he called out again, "Mommy! Daddy!"

…

Sobbing, he drew in a ragged breath and screamed screamed screamed, "MOMMY, DADDY! MOOOOMMMIIEEE, D-DDAAADDDY, M-MOMAAAAAA~! AH AH, UH, M-MOOOMMAAA, DAA, DDAAAAADIIIEEE, DA-DA-DA-DA-DA UUAAAHHHH~!" His voice crackled loudly in the speakers.

_Linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak line_

"W-What is my son doing, what did you do to him, what is wrong with him, what happened?" Mr. Yagami babbled when he first saw the screen, ogling at his son screaming his lungs out for his 'mommy and daddy.' Now, four or so minutes later, he was quite still except for the occasional outburst of questions.

L sipped his tea, watching as Light threw himself to the ground and screamed again violently. "I'm not sure."

Matsuda gasped softly, and L rolled his eyes; was it really that much of a surprise that he did not know everything?

"What is he doing?" Matsuda whispered, horrified, watching as Light thrashed and sobbed on the floor of his cell.

L answered monotonously, "He is calling for his parents." Matsuda shot him an annoyed look; they knew that already.

Turning his eyes from the monitor, where Light was sobbing nonsensically on the floor, L instead watched to see how the suspect's father was taking this disturbing scene. The ex-police chief was glued to the monitor, and L read his body language like a book: his hands held at a slight angle in front of himself in a classic defensive/calming gesture; his eyebrows and eye muscles tightened to focus on the scene even though he was only three feet from the monitor; his shoulders hunched and a frown in place in evident distress; and his legs quivering, ready to take off towards the hysterical student at any moment. It was clear that the display Light was putting on was causing a strong protective-parental-instinct response from Mr. Yagami, which increased the likelihood some 34% that the show Light was putting on was not fake.

L watched the disheveled man in front of him fight to remain still against his overwhelming parental instinct to run to his offspring, even if the scene playing out on the monitor did not make any sense. It did not add up for this to be Kira's doing—why would a mass serial killer want to illicit a parental response from the team members who were parents? A slight, sad smile graced the detective's face for a moment, his opinion that Mr. Yagami was a good man, and good father, reinforced, just as expected.

Looking at the only other parent in the room for a comparison, L observed Aizawa showing some similar signs of parental distress- the hand gesture, the tensed frame, etc.- even though Light was not his child and quite older than his own. L quirked an eyebrow, upping the percentage another 17%. Aizawa swallowed thickly and blinked hard twice. Make that 19.3%.

Glancing back to make sure Light was in the same condition- writhing and shrieking on the floor in terror and sadness- L looked to Matsuda to gauge his reaction as well—having a control was always good.

Matsuda, L noted without any surprise, was acting just as expected- wringing his hands, looking around in every direction for something to stop the scene, his facial muscles working furiously. Yes, Matsuda was exhibiting the 'concerned/worried brother/older friend' persona to the 't'. Up 12.8%. But, it was _Matsuda_ he was talking about… make it 11%.

Gazing nonchalantly over at Mogi for a second control, he observed that the large man, though clearly disturbed and distressed by the odd scene, was not exhibiting any sign of emotional attachment nor protective instinctual response. Just as expected. Up 13%.

"He-he's acting like… like my daughter did the first few times we left her alone," Aizawa's voice broke through the worried, tense silence, "we saw it through the nanny-camera…. She acted just like him, _just like this._"

Dropping another sugar cube into his lukewarm English tea with a 'plunk,' L weighed out his options, hypothesis, and percentages internally before addressing them to the team.

"Light," L stated, drawing everyone's attention away from the screen, "is acting very out of character—too suddenly to be an act; he would slowly put up this façade if he were to pretend he was going crazy, taking weeks. We won't know what is going on with him until someone physically intervenes."

L took a sip of his tea and continued, "The likelihood that this performance we see here," he waved vaguely to the monitor, "is real, at least in Light's mind, is somewhere near 78%, and is increasing as time goes by."

He stopped to let the team digest what he had stated, then continued, "Given his behavior, it is evident that we must take action. We have a number of options." He took another sip of tea and held up one long, spidery finger, "One, we could just leave him in there, alone, and let him continue without interruption—I'd rather not do that, seeing as he'll probably end up hurting himself.'

He held up a second finger in front of the haunted faces of his colleagues, "Two, we could remove him and bring him here—I'm not sure about this one yet, since he could be Kira. Three, we could send Watari down there—I do not like this option either, since he could kill him if he was Kira. Four, we could use the intercom system to communicate with him, but he looks and acts too out of it for that to work properly. Five, we could send Mr. Yagami down to him and go from there, though there would be risks involved if he was Kira… Those are our options."

"I'll do it." Mr. Yagami said without delay, looking completely resolute. The team all looked at each other, then at Mr. Yagami, finally coming to rest their questioning stares on L.

"…Alright, but I hope you realize that this could cost you your life." L finally answered, turning back to his sweets, "You may go now, if you are ready. Watari will escort you to the cell—once you calm him down, if you can, I will use the intercom to question him, and depending on that and your own observations, we will see where to go from there." Mr. Yagami nodded once briefly, turned on his heel, and followed Watari out of the room.

The remaining team members faced the monitor connected to Light's cell, watching him continue to bawl and screech pathetically for his parents, waiting tensely for the boy's father to arrive.

_Linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak line_

Light lay on the cold, hard ground of the strange room that was not his bedroom, tired from his hysteria-induced tantrum, but too confused and petrified to stop his ragged sobs.

"M-m-mommaaaaaa~" he moaned, his body bent in the closest imitation of a fetal position he could manage, "uuuaaahhhhhh…D-daaaddddiiie-e-e-e~" He was all alone, stuck here in this scary grey room with bars, with no Mommy and no Daddy. Why weren't they there with him? They never left him before…

He needed them back here with him. Now. If he just called loud enough…

"_M-mooooomm-m-maaa-a-aa~! Daaaad-d-iiie-e-e-e~!" _he keened again from his prone position on the concrete, his back arching and fingers trembling, white and blue due to his struggle decreasing the already diminished blood flow. His exertions becoming too much for his fatigued body, he slumped back down and slipped almost automatically back into the fetal position. He lay, crying softly on the floor, his throat tight and sore, eyes itchy and blurred.

…

…

Where were they!

"_Moooo-mmoo-mamama-maaaaaa~! Dddaaaaaaaaa-aaa-aa- eeehhh euuuaaaaahhh~!"_

_Linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak line_

Mr. Yagami, haggard and tired beyond belief from his self-imposed imprisonment, stumbled slightly on the stairs leading down to the hall containing his son's cell. Glancing at the ever-calm elderly gentleman next to him, Mr. Yagami waited as Watari took out a remote from his pocket.

Watari motioned for the ex-police-chief to continue on down the hall alone, towards the piteous cries emanating from the last cell on the left. Wasting no time, The man walked briskly towards the cell, resisting the powerful urge to run, leaving Watari at the hall entrance, remote held at the ready.

As soon as Mr. Yagami reached the cell, Watari pushed a green button on his little black remote, opening the cell door with a clanging of metal. Mr. Yagami stepped inside the cell, and Watari pressed a red button, shutting and locking the bars back into place. He then stood, waiting, not surprised that the screams had stopped; Mr. Yagami was a good father, after all.

_Linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak line_

"Uuuuuaaaahhhh, uh, uh, D-daaa-aaad-d-diiiieeeee~!"

Light was alone. Terribly alone. And terribly tired, so, so tired, too much tired, like he needed a nap—but, it was bright, and Light didn't take naps when it was bright, and this wasn't his room, and he didn't like this room with the grey and the bars the no moving and the crying and they left him here, they left, they're gone, where did Mommy and Daddy go, where did they go, whey did they leave him all alone here in this scary place that hurt and not fun and bright and tired and gone and and a-and-

"Light?"

Light? He was Light, but who was that? Light uncurled his body, lifting his face from his wet chest, looking up at the entrance of his not-bedroom. He blinked the wetness out of his eyes, focusing on the figure illuminated by the unforgiving overhead lights. He looked familiar, like someone he knew, like-

"D-Daddy?"

End of Ch1

A/N:

*Well? Didja like it at all? :D It'll pick up and get quite…interesting(commence evil laughter). Uhm, this story just popped up off the top of my little auburn head, so I made a few silly doujinshi pages of ideas, which can be found on my DeviantArt account(the link is on my profile)- look in my gallery under Death Note Comics. Fair warning, the doujinshi is very crackish and might not be much like the story at all, and it is done in rough pencil sketches.

*Even though this idea was one of those random things, it kinda fits with the song _My Name is Jonas _by Weezer, and a bit like _Adam's Song_ by Blink182, oh and a tiny bit like _Apple Shampoo, _ for all you other 90's children out there ^^.

*AAAhhhh, I have never realized how difficult it can be to put the noises children make into text—the gurgling, crying, whines, whimpers, babbles, and other unconscious sounds. Oi, the crying is weird—I'd try and remember what my little brother sounded like and went off that for Light's tantrum.

*Uhm, I am currently in my freshman year(2nd semester) , studying as an Elementary Education major, and am in the last part of my introduction to educational psychology class. So, I might use some terms from what I learn, and I'll try and provide the definitions—who'd have thought ed psyc would help me with my fanfiction? XD Well, at least you'll know that there's some truth to what's being written, though I am by no means anywhere near an expert.

*About Light freaking out about his parents not being there and being in an unknown environment- there is an actual term for this, but that would spoil the next few surprises, so I'll just tell you that young children think that their parents leave forever when they are left alone the first few times—that's why Light freaked out, just as any other small child would.

…LEAVE MEH SOME COMMENTS, O-TAY? D: I wuvs you~! w.


	2. Chapter 2

_Innocence Ch 2_

For **Disclaimer** and **Warning**, see Innocence ch1!

**Important info:** First, read the summary and important info in ch 1, because I haven't updated this in many moons and I know your memory ain't that good! xD decided to mutilate my separations for POV/scenes/timeskips/etc, so they will instead be, hopefully, separated by a linebreak.

**A Note:** I know I've been gone from all my writings here for far too long, and I apologize like a kid who accidently ruined their Mom's favorite dress TToTT I've just been going through a lot recently, and my hands are no better, but I'm back now! I'll be updating _everything_, so you all better be prepared for the revival of LC! XD

_**Innocence Ch 2**_

_Subtitle: Such a Lovely Golden Boy_

Mr. Yagami, former chief of the Japanese Police Force, stood for a moment, staring at a sight he never thought he'd be presented with, mainly because he had never thought it possible and thus had never actually entertained the idea—and yet, here it was, as painfully obvious as his unshaven face or the grey peaking sharply at his temples. He seriously doubted that anyone else would have been able to think it possible for something like this to happen, maybe not even L, yet there it was in front of his eyes—Light, his one and only son, the brightest of all the students in Japan, handsome beyond conventional standards, and always, _always _calm and collected with an admittedly cool demeanor, had lost all control; control of the situation, his emotions, his mental state, _himself. _

The sheer implausibility of the situation left the wearied man standing in the doorway of the cell to the powerless boy within, and he found himself feeling an unfamiliar emotion—fear. Light never lost his composure, never let go of that control over himself that he was so praised for, and now, to have it dissolve right in front of his eyes in a matter of moments… left him deeply shaken.

So, it was that the tired man found himself unable to give voice to his worries until his son, lying in a near-fetal position on the floor, gave another piteous cry.

"Light?"

The unbalanced teen turned his heartbreakingly broken, beautiful face up, his impossibly wide and clear doe eyes glinting only with innocence in the fluorescenlighting. He opened his mouth, and out fell the one word that had once made his father so happy, now only to make his heart wrench painfully, "D-Daddy?"

_Linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak line_

Light, knowing that voice among a precious few even though it sounded quite horse, looked up to see a man who looked quite… old. Older than his daddy, but—it was him, _it was him!_ His daddy had come to save him from the awful icky grey room of pain and light and bars! His face broke out in a smile, and he gurgled in ecstasy, "Daddy!"

He made to surge forward and grab onto his father's legs like he often did—only to be, once again, restrained by his aptly named _restraints._

"Euff! Daddieee~!" He whined, attempting to inch forward through the wriggling of his exhausted body. Thankfully, his beloved daddy seemed to snap out of whatever reverie he was in and promptly entered the cell, dropping to his knees and giving Light what he so desperately needed at that moment, and had been needing since he opened his eyes those ten minutes ago—the hug of a parent.

_Linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak line_

Mr. Yagami had snapped out of his state of fear-induced immobility, his parental instincts crashing back down on him like a torrential rain. Wasting no more time, he stepped forwards, fell to his creaky knees, and gathered the apple of his eye into his arms.

The teen snuggled into his embrace as best he could, letting out a contented sigh. Rubbing his hand up and down his son's back, now seemingly at ease by a simple touch, Mr. Yagami let out a held breath of his own, glad that the disquieting screaming had stopped.

They sat they for a few minutes, only one feeling any amount of awkwardness about the situation. Feeling as that it was now safe to do so that Light was calm, Mr. Yagmi turned his gaze to one of the cameras and stated solemnly, "You can start with your questions now, Ryuzaki."

Light, recognizing that his father was not talking to him, shifted his gaze around the empty room, evidently looking for this 'Ryuzaki,' only to give a cry of surprise when a voice spoke loudly from the speakers, sounding as though the eerie voice were coming from all around him.

"Very well Yagami-san."

'Wah!" Light yelped, whipping his head around to find the mysterious and scary voice.

"It's alright, Light," Mr. Yagami hushed his son efficiently, turning him around on his lap to face the unseen cameras as well, "We're going to play a game with a friend of mine. His name is Ryuzaki."

Light craned his head backwards to look up at his father, all fear forgotten, "Really Daddy? I like games."

Mr. Yagami gave a ghost of a smile and replied, doing his best to hide his anxiety, "I know you do. Now, Ryuzaki is in another room, but we can hear his voice, kind of like a telephone. You know what a telephone is?"

Light shook his head 'yes' furiously, very proud that he knew what a telephone was!

"Ryuzaski will ask you questions, and you'll have to answer them all truthfully, no lying. You understand?" Mr. Yagami forced a smile on his face as his son nodded his head in the affirmative once more, "Alright, he'll start now, and you do your very best."

Light nodded and let his head fall back into its normal position waiting, now with happy anticipation, for this friend of his father's, this 'Ryuzaki' to speak once more.

_Linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak linebreak line_

L, sitting perched in his peculiar manner on the edge of his chair, concealed a snort at this odd new Light's enamored and, if truth be told, reverential actions towards his father—idolization, basically. He and the other three taskforce members were gathered around the monitors showing Light's cell—Watari was standing guard down in the basement where the cells were—waiting to begin the process of interrogation.

He first spoke, a mere three words and one suffix, and was not surprised when Light showed a panicky fear of the disembodied voice—he had predicted it at some 52.8% chance he would not respond well. The four watched as Mr. Yagami fed the teen a story about playing a game, and Matsuda couldn't hold back a giggle at the suspect's naïve trust—the filthy hypocrite.

Receiving a nod from Mr. Yagami that they were ready and an excited smile from Light, L clicked on the intercom once more, and began their 'game.'

"Hello, Light-kun." He stated blandly, voice completely monotone.

"Hello Ryuzaki-san!" Light squeaked, beaming. Aizawa twitched next to L, and he could not help but feel a sense of sudden understanding pass through them…

"Please state you full name, Light-kun." L intoned.

Light, however, quirked his head for a moment, then replies cheekily, "That wasn't a question, Ryuzaki-san! You're silly."

L let loose a sigh as Mr. Yagami admonished his son lightly.

"Awright, I'm sowry Mr. Ryuzaki."

Another sigh, and the detective clicked the intercom back on, "Your full name?"

"Light Yagami! The first!" Matsuda chuckled once more, and received a firm rap to the back of his skull.

"What is your father's full name?" L inquired.

"Daddy!"

"…"

"…OH! Uhm, uh… Soichiro Yagami! Yes!"

"What is my name?" The detective asked, hearing Matsuda hold his breath.

"You don't know your own name? Geez, I'm sorry mister, that's gots to be sad…" Light replied sincerely.

"…" Why him?

"Okay, I'll tell you your name, since you don't know no more." Light stated simply.

L himself held his breath, and asked in a low voice, "You know my name?"

Light giggled and bounced happily on his fahter's lap, oblivious to his distress, "Yup!"

"Well?"

"It's… Ryuzaki!"

"…"

"…"

"…Okay, let's move on - what do you think of Kira?" L finally replied in a controlled voice.

"Who?"

"Kira."

"Sowry, I dun't know what a Kira is. I'm sowry."

It was Aizawa who reacted this time, "You've _got _to be kidding me!" Mogi shuched him, and L continued with his questioning, determined to figure out this odd new development.

"…That's alright. Kira is a person. Does that ring any bells?"

"Where are bells? No bells ring, I dun't see any…"

"It was a—never mind. *sigh* Do you know anything about Kira? Does Kira remind you of anything? Even if it seems silly…?"

"Hum… well, Kira reminds me of a cat."

"Beg pardon?"

"You kow, like '_Here Kira, kira, kiwa~!' _Like a cat!"

"Are you lying to me Light-kun?" L asked softly, gazing intently at the bright face on the monitors.

"No!" Light bit out, instantly mulish, "I play by the rules! Daddy said no lying, so no lying!"

"Why not lie?" L asked curiously.

"I wouldn't win."

Interesting—he could have said the common answers to thast question; lying is bad, I'll get caught, liers never prosper. He instead answered just as the normal Light would answer, and as L himself would answer, and with complete honesty.

"You like to win, Light-kun?" L asked smoothly.

"Yes!" Light answered exuberantly, hopping a little on his father's quickly numbing lap.

"So do I."

"It's fun to win."

"Yes it is."

"Losing isn't, though."

"I'm well aware."

"…Did I lose?" A quivering lip.

"No, not at all; I believe you are telling what you believe to be the truth." And, shockingly enough, L was honest in his statement—the teen gave off no signs of deceit whatsoever—no twitching fingers or nervous movements, no trying to stare down the camera(though, he didn't exactly know where the camera was…), no skittering around the questions. The boy was completely relaxed and honest, which was understandably worrying.

A joyful cry of ,"I win!" brought L out of his musings.

"So sorry Light-kun, but we are not done with our game yet."

"Ohhhh…"

"What would you do if you lost?"

"I would be vewy upset!"

"Would you… retaliate?"

"Huh?"

"Would you make me sorry that you lost?"

"Naw, I'd just beat you at it next time!"

"Hm, indeed."

"In what?"

"Nothing. Now, do you know where you are?" L asked, changing tactics.

"Not my room!" Light answered confidently, then formed a pout.

That was odd—not 'the Kira HQ', nor 'in a room, ' nor 'Japan', but where he _wasn't, _specifically his room... and it upset him. "Is there something the matter Light-kun?" L asked.

"I dun't like it here." The teen murmured unhappily, gazing around the room with blatant unease.

"And why is that?" L questioned promptly.

"It's grey."

"Oh. That's all?"

"No! It hurts!"

"Excuse me, but the room is, as you put it, _hurting _you?" L asked flatly.

Light nodded solemnly and went on, "It hurts me in my awms, an' in my legs."

Ah, yes, the restraints, "I understand. Tell me… what is the date, Light-kun?"

"Date? Uhm… Is it a Tuesday? I like Tuesdays."

"…no, it is not." Again, such a peculiar answer to such a normal question…

"Do you know the time?"

"I can tell time!" came the excited answer.

"Yes, but do you know what time it is right now?" L pushed.

"… It's not bedtime." Light answered finally, even though he couldn't have been farther from the truth—it was currently 4 minutes past midnight.

"What makes you say that?" the detective probed, completely engrossed in solving this mystery.

"It's bright. I dun't sleep with the lights on, and they are, so it's not time to sleep." Light answered calmly, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

The pattern obvious by now, even painfully so, the detective asked the dreaded question that had been waiting on the tip of his tongue since they started their little game, the one which he feared the answer to, "Light-kun, how old are you?"

Light puffed out his chest and answered proudly, "I'm two anna' half yeaws old!"

L did not need the grunt from Mogi, the sputtering of Aizawa, nor the coffee Matsuda spat out just centimeters from his ear to know that the situation was bad.

END of Ch 2

A/N: Well, I know it wasn't much in terms of excitement, but it had to be done to further the sorry ^^' As I said earlier, I am so, sooooo sorry it took this long to update! But I'm back now, so no worries! I'll be updating my other stories and adding some new ones, so watch out! ;)

*Uhm, hurray, the team finally get it, they understand! :D …Or do they?

*Light has a fully developed pallet and mouth, though he doesn't know that, thus the baby-talk. …I wanted and excuse to have him talk like that, what can I say? XD

Ah, my fingers hurt soooooooooo o o o o o o o oooo o badly TToTT So leave me some reviews to make them feel better, okay? ^w^


	3. Chapter 3

_For disclaimers, warnings, info, summary, etc, please see ch 1!_

**Note:** … I'm so sorry, I feel terrible for the wait all my readers go through between updates—If I had the time, I would pump out updates daily. As I go further in my schooling, I have less and less time for things I enjoy, like this. Wah, I'm sorry! TTnTT

_**Innocence Ch 3**_

_Subtitle: Postulates, Pee, and Proceedings_

Sitting in front of his multiple monitors, L sat in silence as the three underlings around him babbled, his mind spinning around the impossible situation presented to him.

"H-H-He c-can't be t-t-t-wo!" Matsuda stuttered impressively from beside the detective, coffee dribbling from his chin while the cup rattled on its saucer, "He-he's a t-teenager! He's in _co-college!_"

L frowned, trying to tune out the noisy men, but was foiled once again, this time by Aizawa. The afroed man jabbed a finger at the screen, growling, "Get the chief out of there _now!_ The kid's gone nuts, his father's in danger down there with him!"

L batted away the offending hand, his thoughts whirring—just ten more seconds of semi-silence and he could take some action, _God_.

"_Kira turned Light's brain into baby-mush!" _Matsuda wailed painfully into the detective's left ear, finally making him snap.

"Enough! Shut UP for 6.3 seconds!" L barked in his monotone, oddly effective and a bit scary. The team watched with wide eyes and closed mouths as L gnawed on his thumb, his eyes out of focus as his golden mind worked. A few moments later, and the thumb fell, the black holes turning their gaze back onto the three impatient officers.

L faced the men and stated blandly, "As unbelievable as it seems, the evidence provided by observing Light-kun points to the conclusion that he not only _believes_ himself to be, ah, two and one half years old, but that his _mind_ is in the state of a toddler. The reasons as to why and further evidence are needed, but we can safely conclude tha—"

"Wait," Matsuda interrupted, flailing his hands around in the air as if attempting to spread stupidity, "Does this mean Light-kun is a baby?" He even looked like he believed it, his brown eyes wide in anticipation.

Aizawa slapped a hand to his forehead, muttering jerkily about needing a good drink. L looked as if he were almost surprised—almost. Mogi placed a hand on the younger officer's shoulder before the blunt detective could make him cry, "Matsuda, look at Light—does he have the body of a baby? No, he's still a teenager, even if his mind is telling him otherwise." For his credit, Mogi did not snort as Matsuda approached the screen and peered at the figure of Light as if to reassure himself that the boy's body had not turned into that of a toddler.

"As I was saying, " L continued boredly, tracing his thumb along his bottom lip thoughtfully, "Though it seems likely that Light-kun has indeed regressed to the cognitive abilities of a toddler, we only have observational evidence; more will need to be collected. And the cause of this will have to be determined… though I would think it obvious to be Kira's doing… perhaps this is what happens to a 'Kira' after his or her powers switch to another…? Or maybe a larger Kira is behind this, and silenced Light-kun in this way, which would mean he would be needed in the future since he wasn't killed outright, or perhaps—"

"L!" Aizawa groaned, rubbing his temples, "You're talking as though Light couldn't possibly be innocent—what if the stress of being locked up finally got to him? Or if he had a preexisting emotional or mental problem that was worsened by confinement? The mind sometimes does things like this to protect itself from stressful situations…" Aizawa trailed off to find the team looking at him with impressed looks on their faces. Looking a bit sheepish, he coughed and said gruffly, "My wife made me help her study when she was still in school—she's a school therapist."

"Ah," L stated with a slight sense of relief that the entire team was not clueless in this difficult area of human psychology, "so what do you propose is wrong with Light-kun?"

Looking thoughtful, Aizawa put a finger to his chin and furrowed his brow in evident concentration for a few moments. After about a minute of silence, he stated bluntly, "I have no idea." The others nearly fell over "But," he amended seriously, "We don't know that this is Kira's doing, and we don't know if he's dangerous or not—the Chief needs to get out of that cell." Mogi nodded his silent assent.

Matsuda, ever the optimist, put his two-cents in, "Maybe Light-kun just misses his family?" The stares that were leveled his way made the hopeful smile disappear from his face more rapidly than a fist would have.

Retrieving a green-apple lollipop from his pocket, the scraggly detective let loose a small sigh, effectively shushing his underlings, and continued on monotonously, "As I was saying… I believe this to be Kira's doing; it is too much of a coincidence, especially since Miss Aname has showed similar, though less extreme changes earlier on in the investigation." The three officers made noises of realization, and L continued on, gnawing on his poor sucker, " Miss Aname, when first imprisoned, not long after she talked of dying, underwent a slight behavioral change that left her confused about her environment and the circumstances involving her apparent 'kidnapping' that she previously had some understanding of. It could be that Kira wiped her memory when she threatened to kill herself, so that she could later be used as a pawn… It is not clear, and Light-kun did not mention anything so rash when his more dramatic changes took place… Light-kun is much more intelligent than Aname, almost to a painfully obvious point, so perhaps Kira had to take more of his mind than Aname's, since Light's intellect could be used to bring about evidence of Kira… Or maybe this happens to all Kiras, a sort of payment for the ability to kill with a name and a face that they pay when they give up that power or when it is passed on to someone else…"

L fell into a pensive silence, various numbers and calculations no doubt whirring in his head, before seeming to shake himself out of his reverie, "Proof of Kira's involvement in this is purely circumstantial and correlational in this instance, which, sadly, is not enough to convict either Light nor Aname on. It is true that the cause of their behavioral changes may or may not have been Kira's doing, but the fact remains that more evidence and figures are needed before we can come to a definitive explanation as to the cause of these strange happenings." Taking in the information, the three men gathered around the video feed and dark detective turned to look once more at the figures of Light and Mr. Yagami, still sitting on the floor of the cell, waiting for Ryuzaki's voice to return to their 'game'.

"What happens now?" Mogi questioned simply of L.

Popping the lollipop out of his mouth, the owlish man replied with green-tinted tongue and teeth, "For the moment, we should keep Light-kun restrained," ignoring Matsuda's cries of torturing toddlers, he continued, pointing his mutilated sucker at the monitors, "Though it is unlikely of him attacking anyone physically, at about 13%, let alone his father, at 3.2%, we cannot take any risks until we have more information to base our decisions off of. His father needs to be clued in on the situation, though it may be advisable, given Light's precarious mental state, for him to spend the night near Light's cell. We shall have to obtain and run a battery of tests to determine Light's current developmental, emotional, and psychological state in comparison to prior records from his childhood."

Sitting down on the couch once more, L took out his cell phone in his traditional two-fingered grip, "I will call Watari and have him let Mr. Yagami out of the cell so I can relay our information to him via Watari's cell-phone, without Light-kun being able to eavesdrop—though, in his current situation, I doubt he'd understand a word being said… *sigh* In the meantime, I want you three to start gathering the necessary information we will need…"

Despite the late hour, the three officers dutifully went about their tasks: Mogi was to obtain Light's medical and school records, involving a lot of calm negotiation given the hour and abruptness; Aizawa was to contact a number of psychologists and other professionals L practically had on speed dial in order to obtain a succession of tests and necessary examination equipment; and Matsuda was to obtain a discreet pediatrician under L's pay, supposedly somewhere in Russia at the moment, as soon as possible. As the three tired but dedicated men went about their jobs, L went through with his own, more difficult one; breaking the news to Soichiro.

Dialing Watari's number with practiced ease despite his unorthodox grip, L had only to wait ¾ of a ring before the ever-efficient Watari picked up the phone with a stately, "Yes?"

"It seems that we have a slight predicament…" L stated monotonously, explaining the situation efficiently in a few sentences. Coming to an understanding, Watari held the phone in one hand, the remote at the ready in his other.

Now the only one in the observation room, L flicked the intercom back on.

"Mr. Yagami," He stated without preamble, "there is a—"

"Ryuzaki!" Light's excited cry interrupted, unable to contain his enthusiasm at the disembodied voice's return, "You were gone sooooooooo long, I thought you fogawt about our game!"

"Oh, yes," L responded in his dead voice, "our game."

"Is it over?" Light asked sadly, having enjoyed the game quite a bit.

"Yes, it's over." L affirmed blandly, moving quickly to the business at hand, "Now, there is a call waiting for you, Mr. Yagami; Watari will open the door and let you speak on the phone."

Looking a little perturbed, Soichiro helped the saddened Light off his lap, standing with much creaking of joints to hobble over to the door.

Light, seeing his father about to leave, made to go with him—forgetting, once again, that he was bound. He fell from his kneeling position to land on his side, "D-Daddy, wait for me! I commin' too!"

Looking back at his son apologetically, he reassured, "I'll be back soon, right Ryuzaki…?" He looked to one of the many tiny cameras peppering the cell.

"Ofcourse, this will only take a few minutes." He responded calmly.

"See? I'll be right back." Mr. Yagami soothed as the cell door opened.

"Bu-" Light floundered—his daddy had just got here, and now he was leaving him all alone _again!_

Yagami senior slipped quickly out of the door, which closed a few moments after he exited, leaving Light alone in the cell once more. The teen turned toddler lay there on the concrete floor, listening to the fading footfalls of his father. He said he'd be right back. …How long was a few of minutes going to be? He reasoned to himself that it'd be about as long as it took to, uhm, count to ten? Yes, that sounded good; that was such a large number that a few minutes could surely pass by while he counted.

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At the end of the long hallway, Mr. Yagami accepted the phone from Watari.

"Hello?"

L, rummaging through a bowl of mini chocolates, spoke without preamble, "I have spoken to the team, and we have come to some conclusions as to your son's strange changes in demeanor—"

He paused, however, as did Soichiro, at the sound of a long, high-pitched whine emanating from the previously exited cell: "_Daaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaad ddddiiiiiiiee eeeeeeee~!"_

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Light had counted to ten without missing a single number, which was no feat for him—he could count all the way to… what was the number again? Well, the point was, he could count very high and very well! Softly, he counted to ten, waiting for his father to come back… then counted up to fifteen just to give him some extra time. But, he did not reappear in the doorway. He _said_ that he'd be back in a few minutes, but the time Light had thought was appropriate to allot him had passed by, which could only mean one thing; his daddy had lied and abandoned him.

Getting himself all worked up all over again, he began to whine and keen for his father.

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L nearly cursed as the boy began to throw yet another tantrum, watching through one of the monitors showing Mr. Yagami, who moved to go back to the cell.

Knowing time was of the essence in dealing with these matters, L spoke quickly over the phone still held to Soichiro's ear, "No, he'll be fine, now listen—"

"But…" The man hesitated, the wails coming from the last cell down the hall echoing off the concrete walls.

"No," L repeated, "I'll… give him a distraction. Hold on a moment."

Settling back on the couch, L flicked the intercom back on, "Light-kun?"

"Wuh?" Light sobbed, looking up at the wall he had decided Ryuzaki lived in, "R-Ryuzaki-san?"

"Yes," L said a bit impatiently, though it was not easily detectable in his apathetic voice, "I need you to stop crying and count as high as you can for me, alright?"

Light's expression morphed into one of confusion, "B-but, Daddy—"

"I thought you were a big boy?" L quickly interceded, pulling out every adult's ace; the big kid card.

Mouthing wordlessly at the wall, Light sputtered with childish affronment, "Uh-Uff, I am too!"

"Well then, prove it." L challenged coolly.

"I will!" Light huffed, beginning to count off loudly, "One! Two! Three! Four!..."

Satisfied that the imprisoned boy would be distracted for a while, L flicked off the intercom and returned to his cell phone, rapidly relating the necessary information and curtly answering Mr. Yagami's questions. The father started to argue about Light being kept in his restraints, but Light had reached the seventies, and he knew he probably wouldn't have much time before he ran out of numbers. "Not tonight. He might be able to be released tomorrow, but for now they have to remain. Now, you should be getting back to the cell before he remembers that you're gone." Indeed, Light was screwing up his face, trying to remember the next number.

Mr. Yagami handed the cell phone back to Watari with a sigh, walking once more down the hall to the last cell on the left…

The door opened, courtesy of Watari, and Mr. Yagami greeted his son, who happily began to tell his father of his counting adventure with Ryuzaki.

"I was a big boy!" He told his father proudly, "I counted for Ryuzaki real well! Huh Ryuzaki?" He turned to Ryuzaki's wall, waiting for the man to speak in return.

The voice did not sound, though. "Ryuzaki?" Light questioned in a tight, upset voice, "Weren't you listening to me counting for you?"

L, having been speaking to Watari on the phone, flicked the intercom back on just in time before Light's devastated face gave way to more tears, "Of course I was listening, I was just so impressed I couldn't respond for a moment." The lie rolled easily off his tongue, and the gullible boy accepted it without question.

"I won?" Light asked happily, punctuated by a large yawn.

"Yes, I'd say you won today." Looking at the clock on the adjacent wall that read 2 in the morning, L continued, "I think it's time for bed, wouldn't you agree Mr. Yagami?"

"Yes," the wearied man replied readily. With a grunt, he lifted Light and plopped him down on the cot some four feet away, not wanting to see his son try and wriggle around like a worm in an attempt to move anymore.

"But it's bright," Light protested grumpily from his uncomfortable position on the thin cot without blanket or pillow.

Knowing the lights had to stay on for observational purposes, Mr. Yagami looked imploringly at the camera for L to think of something. With a sigh, L dully asked of Watari, who was still on the other line, "Could you bring a blanket for Light-kun in addition to Mr. Yagami's cot and blanket?"

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With much persuasion from Mr. Yagami, Light was convinced that he could sleep with the lights on if he covered up his head with the blanket. Mr. Yagami, much to Light's dismay, slept outside of the cell in the hallway, for safety.

"You can still see me, it'll be fine," Soichiro told his son in an exhausted voice, knowing they both needed their sleep for the next stressful day.

"You won't leave?" Light questioned his father suspiciously as his eye lids drooped dangerously.

"I won't leave," He promised, lying down on his cot pressed up against the bars.

Light watched him for a few moments to make sure he wouldn't sneak off, struggling to keep awake, before finally retreating his head back under the blanket. A few minutes passed in silence, and Yagami senior was about to fall asleep when a small voice asked from under the blanket, "We goin' home tomorrow?"

Neither Soichiro nor L replied, and Light fell asleep with his question unanswered.

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The next day came with an early wake-up call for the two Yagami males, though it was no fault of L's. The detective, monitoring the two throughout the night and morning while the three other officers intermittently worked and dozed, was planning on waking the pair at 8 or 9 in the morning so they'd have a decent amount of rest for the sure to be strenuous day ahead of them. But, it was at 6:00, barely four hours after they had gone to sleep, that they awoke.

Light had, up to the morning that he _changed_, been equipped with catheters to take care of his bodily discharges. That morning, they had been removed to be replaced later with new ones when the shipment came in, since the same tubing was not safe to use for extended periods of time. In all of the, ah, excitement of the following evening, the missed delivery was not thought of, and Light went to bed without his catheters.

One must understand that, when these medical devices are put in place, the normal control over one's bodily functions can diminish over time, and Light, who believed himself to be just recently potty-trained, was not too surprised when he woke at 6 am to find his bed soaked.

"Mommy~!" He keened sleepily from his cot, believing himself to be at home in his exhausted state. "Mommy, Daddy, I went potty~"

The detective watching the waking figures resisted the urge to smack his hand to his forehead, murmuring angrily, "Catheters, _catheters…" _Mr. Yagami, however, did slap a hand to his forehead, having thought he would not have to deal with something like this again until he was a grandfather…

One quick trip to the shower room later, where the zip ties were finally allowed to be removed by the somewhat guilty L and Light cried for his bath toys and bubbles as he sat on the shower floor and was washed, and Light was in time to meet the pediatrician who had arrived fresh off a plane from Russia.

Wrapped in a large towel and properly clean for the first time since he was imprisoned, Light was carried by his fatigued father slowly back the short distance to his cell, since Light's unused muscles were in no shape to hold their own weight. Light did not care, since he loved to be carried, but his father nearly fell over when he first picked up the limp boy—unhealthily thin or not, Light was still the size of a teenager.

The drained pair entered the cell to find a bundle of clean clothes and Watari waiting for them. Raising a tired eyebrow as he plopped his be-toweled son back onto his cot, which the boy promptly rolled off of in his ragdoll-like state while giggling madly, Watari stated kindly, "Ryuzaki believes it safe for me to watch Light while you ready yourself for the day. Plus, he needs his catheters back in place to avoid any more _accidents._"

Feeling extremely happy for a chance to go take a nice hot shower of his own and shave for the first time in weeks, and also a put on a new set of clothes, Mr. Yagami quickly explained to Light that Mr. Watari would watch him for awhile and he'd be back soon. What he did not know was that L had sent Watari with a taser, just incase, even if the chances for having to use it were some 4%...

Light, finding the old man to give off a strong grandfather-aura, took a liking to Watari and so remained calm as his father slipped away. Having taken care of countless young children through his many years, including one reclusive panda-detective, Watari had no trouble as he slipped the light blue cotton T-shirt onto the sleepy young man, who told him blearily that he liked the color blue, and green too, like his bedroom door of painted dinosaurs.

Knowing he'd have little to no chance of inserting the catheters while the boy was conscious in his regressed state, Watari let the boy lay back down on his cot and fall asleep in his t-shirt. It did not take long for that to happen, given the small amount of sleep Light had gotten the prior night, and the medical devices were put back into place without any fuss. Underwear and cotton pants pulled efficiently on the sleeping boy, Watari covered the boy back up with the blanket he had been previously denied for months.

It was within the half-hour that the tired, if refreshed, Mr. Yagami returned. Finding Light dressed, with his catheters in place, and sleeping soundly, Soichiro gave Watari a sincerely thankful look. The elderly gentleman smiled in return, stating quietly that he and Light were to go up to a secured room on the first floor to eat breakfast and meet with the waiting pediatrician since it was better equipped for medical paraphernalia.

Popping his back with a sigh, Mr. Yagami dutifully gathered his bundle of son into his arms to accompany Watari to the elevator…

One elevator ride later during which Light stayed almost obstinately asleep against his father's chest, and the group of three found themselves entering a windowless room equipped with a heavy, password-encoded door. Entering the correct sequence swiftly, Watari ushered them inside. Inside the room, they were met with what looked like a combination of a daycare and a doctor's office, with the 'daycare' side to the left and the 'doctor's office' to the right. In the middle between the two areas sat a circular table big enough for about five adults, with a spread of breakfast foods on it and an older man in a white lab coat busy with his own breakfast. Receiving the go-ahead from Watari, Soichiro deposited Light on a chair, catching him when he promptly fell sideways off it and pushing the chair in so that the teen was effectively wedged between the table and chair, though not painfully so. With a sigh, Mr. Yagami sat on the other side of Light, one seat away from the doctor, who he greeted hastily.

The doctor, who introduced himself cheerfully as Dr. Gregorwhich in only slightly accented Japaense, explained that he had been clued in on the situation by his employer and would be staying for at least a week or more, and that today would begin with some simple observation. The man, who had a short grey beard and kind grey eyes, motioned for them to eat, stating that he himself was famished from his plane ride.

The stirring Light proclaimed his hunger, whining, "Daddy, where's Mommy? I wanna eat my brefest~!"

Wincing slightly at the mention of the boy's missing mother, knowing that it would eventually become an issue if Light did not return to his right mind, Mr. Yagami distracted the boy with a simple, "Would you like cereal, Light?"

"Yes!" Sitting facing towards his immobile son, he proceeded to feed his son and eat his own plate in turn. With his napkin tucked into his shirt in place of a bib by the thoughtful Watari, Light was spoon-fed his breakfast of cold cereal without too much of a mess, with Light periodically complaining that he was a big boy and could feed himself if his arms would just remember to work. With a final glass of apple juice, which Light seemed to adore, Light's faced was wiped clean and the four made their way over to the professional-looking doctor office side of the room.

Light was placed to sit on the examination table for a general medical checkup, and Mr. Yagami, looking around properly for the first time, found himself fervently appreciative that L was rich and willing to spend the money on such a costly set-up; all of the latest medical equipment on one side of the room, and the best psychological and educational material on the other—it put the enrichment classroom for gifted and talented students Light had been placed in at the age of five to shame.

The doctor ran through the normal checkup procedure with minimal resistance from Light, partially because he couldn't move his limbs and partially because he was full and sleepy. Light seemed to have no sense of bashfulness anymore, looking around boredly while he was divested of his clothes and his body given a once-over. The doctor, To Mr. Yagami's dismay, declared in a no-nonsense manner that the catheters should go as soon as possible to ensure that Light would not permanently loose his ability to control his bodily functions; he had to be re-potty-trained, though most likely in a radically shorter amount of time given the fact that those muscles had been previously trained. The newly restored catheters were promptly pulled completely out of a still-sleepy Light without any fuss despite the painful appearance of the procedure. Light seemed a bit upset to have Pull-ups training pants put on, but calmed when told they were not diapers.

Light was extremely well behaved for the doctor for the first part of the morning. When the blood work part came, however, all that changed. The moment the needle came into view, Light let out a screech and attempted to wriggle off the padded examination table, almost falling off in the process. The doctor, however, proved his merit as a professional under L's employ—a few well-placed words and a wind-up toy duck waddling across the examination table were all that were needed to distract Light and for the wily doctor to take blood from the boy's numb arm. By the time Light remembered to look for the evil needle, the band-aide was in place and he was none the wiser.

The general examination done, more obscure medical tests were ran, including an MRI that sat at the very back of the room enclosed by a hospital curtain. Finally finished at nearly 1 in the afternoon, the doctor informed Mr. Yagami that Light had some health deficiencies, most likely due to his imprisonment; a low iron level that bordered on anemic, mild malnutrition, muscle fatigue and temporary loss of muscle control of the limbs, somewhat low white blood cell count, low body weight, and a list of other similar symptoms. The impact of the prolonged imprisonment of his son surprised and dismayed Mr. Yagami, especially know that he had his… _condition._

He sat in a chair next to where Light lay on the examination table, having his blood pressure taken once again because he had decided to try and hold his breath the previous time. He was surprised when the doctor approached him with the blood-pressure monitor and stethoscope, stating glibly, "My employer instructed me to give you a full work-up too- roll up your sleeve." Taken aback at L's thoughtfulness, Mr. Yagami ran through the normal check-up in a fraction of the time it had taken with Light, with very different results.

Looking at the data taken from the older Yagami, Dr. Gregorwhich asked Soichiro seriously, "Did you know you have heart health issues?..." The two older men discussed Mr. Yagami's health and prescriptions quietly while Watari engaged Light with questions as to his much-beloved room, now seated back at the table for the lunch Watari had surreptitiously brought in. The day continued with a quick lunch, Light being fed this time by Watari while Mr. Yagami filled the doctor in on any missing parts of Light's medical and school history the doctor held in his hands (the files of which were provided by a near-dead Mogi when the doctor arrived).

After lunch, the Doctor led Light over to the small daycare/preschool area of the room, letting him sit down on a beanbag chair so as not to fall off the chair at the little desk. The doctor performed a long battery of tests to determine Light's IQ, developmental state, and other factors, some of which they would complete the next day. At about 6 pm, Light had reached his limit; fussy, hungry, and overly tired, he refused to help the doctor put together the 30-piece puzzle of a puppy. Ever the professional, Dr. Gregorwhich recognized that Light had run out of steam for the day, and bid the group of three a good night as they left, giving Light a blue sucker for being such a good boy, which an enthralled Light eagerly accepted into his mouth.

"See you tomorrow, remember to brush your teeth Light!" the affable doctor called as they exited the door, Light nodding his head vigorously.

Carrying Light with a bit more ease now that he had taken some blood pressure medicine the doctor had practically forced down his throat, Mr. Yagami asked Watari quietly as Light sucked contentedly on his lollipop, "Are we going back to the cell?"

"No," the old gentleman answered with a small smile, "a more suitable room, similar to the one the doctor entertained us in, has been set up to effectively contain Light with minimal discomfort for the time being." Soichiro sighed in relief; the cell was as much a hell for him as it was for Light…

They were led down to the elevator and up to the second floor, where they walked down two hallways before arriving at a similar metal, password-encoded door. Watari entered the passcode, and promising to bring their dinner shortly, let the two into the room.

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In another room, L was doing the same thing he had been doing for countless hours; watching Light. The teen was truly a mystery before yesterday, and now he was nothing short of an enigma. The detective had watched avidly as the boy interacted with the three older men, completely innocent and sincere in his every action. The bright face, thinner now than when he had first entered the cell weeks ago, showed no sign of remembrance or motive, which was understandably intriguing to the detective. The doubts he had as to the validity of his suspect's sudden and inexplicable change were nearly stamped out during the medical examination— even with his prior acting skills, Light had never looked so unaffected at his public nudity. It was also at this unfortunate moment that Matsuda chose to look at the monitors and see the whole graphic catheter scene. After calmly throwing his (full) teacup at the traumatized officer for calling him a sadistic pervert, L had banned Matsuda from the observation room for an indefinite period of time… only to call him back a half hour later for more sweets, since Watari was with the Yagamis.

The old man, the closest and longest associate the reclusive detective had ever had, was sent with the Yagamis for a whole host of reasons, security being chief among them. L could have sent a more disposable member of the small team to play guard, but Watari was a multitalented individual; he was extremely intelligent and intuitive, had a calming air around him that kept others from becoming anxious in his company, was good with children, the list went on. And speaking of old men…

The door to the observation room opened, and the grey-headed figure of Dr. Gregorwhich entered, holding various bulging files in his arms. "L," the old doctor greeted cheerfully.

L rejoined dully, "It's Ryuzaki now, Dr. Gregowhich."

Walking through the empty room to the couch the detective still perched on, the doctor set the heavy stack of murdered trees down on the coffee table next to L's tray of various treats. With a slight sigh, the doctor sank into an armchair next to the couch. Most people L employed never met him except through a screen or Watari—this man, however, was one of the few exceptions. Simply put, Dr. Gregorwhich, whose real name was Ruben Vladkosky, had been L's personal doctor since the age of 8, and so _had_ to have physical contact with the detective. He was one of the few persons on earth who was even remotely in L's confidences.

Without much fight in his voice, the doctor reprimanded slightly at the sight of what appeared to be a sucker dunked in caramel entering the detective's mouth, "You should really reconsider your sugar intake…"

Without even pausing to remove the goopy lolly from his mouth, L replied to what must have been a common comment in a frequent battle, "You know I won't." Slurping noisily on the mass of sugar, L motioned for the man to begin speaking.

Settling back into the armchair, Dr, Gregorwhich stated first, an air that the detective already knew the information coming, "He's a genius, you know. For his developmental age, that is."

"So it's true then, he's at the level of a toddler?" L mumbled past his quickly-dissolving treat.

The doctor nodded, continuing with a frown, "Yes. All of the signs point towards that end. His IQ is already 130, which is the gifted level, and I have no doubt in my mind that by time he regains his health and settles into his lifestyle, he'll score much higher, into the genius range. I can't imagine what it must have been when he still believed himself to be his chronological age…"

Not looking at all surprised, L pointed to the files, asking, "Did it not give score for his latest IQ test?"

The doctor shook his head, "The newest one was done when he was sixteen. After hitting his final growth sequence, it could have gone up—"

"I would calculate it to be somewhere near mine at his age, perhaps even higher, the last time he was… normal," L interrupted bluntly.

The doctor stared blankly at the detective. After a few moments, he remembered his voice, "R-really? That high? But, we're talking percentiles that are thousandsths of a factions here, IQs like yours only come around… never, really…" The old man trailed off, shocked to have encountered another mind like the one he had been ensuring the health of for years.

Shrugging noncommittally, L motioned once more for the doctor to continue with his oral report. Giving his head a small shake, the doctor continued, "Well, like I said, he has a high IQ—but his mind still believes himself to be a toddler, so he acts, speaks, and thinks like a toddler… a very smart toddler, but a toddler nonetheless. He's acting on foundational knowledge, but if he gets hold of some information, I'm sure he would quickly learn at a rapid rate."

Bobbing his head in agreement, L asked next of the bearded man, "And of his emotional state?"

Quirking an eyebrow, the doctor continued, "That of a toddler, maybe less mature than an 18 month old. Like most gifted children, he is a bit late, as observation and tests show, in his emotional development. He still doesn't have complete object permanence."

A snort from the detective this time, as he recalled the boy wailing for his father the moment he was out of sight, "I guessed as much…" Placing the sucker once more into a dish of caramel, L asked monotonously, "Does he show any signs of fragmented memories?"

The doctor, eyeing the caramel dripping dangerously from the yellow sucker with a frown, expounded further, "No, though a longitudinal study would be needed to determine if, perhaps, some signs of remembrance would show up…"

"Possible causes?" L questioned, his head tilted back to let the caramel drip into his gaping mouth.

Turning his sights away from the sugary doom, Dr. Gregorwhich extracted a file while stating dubiously, "He shows a multitude of symptoms or traumatic brain injury, but there is no evidence of one…" He handed a stack of glossy sheets to the detective, along his a jump-drive, continuing, "I know you said that he had not had any head injuries, but I did an X-ray to be sure—he signs of injury to the skull. The MRI gave more interesting results, as you can see in the one labeled #4," The detective plucked out the multi-colored sheet, holding it up at an angle while raking his eyes over it. "I also conducted a functional MRI, stored on the flash drive. His brain shows no signs of injury, just differing patterns of activity than what would be normal for a teen his age. His Occipital lobe is completely unchanged, and his Temporal, Parietal, and Cerebellum all seem a little slower in response, but it is his Frontal lobe and prefrontal cortex that seem to have experienced the most dramatic changes. The whole frontal lobe is very… sporadic. It will be very active in one area, then light up in a completely different area. And the prefrontal cortex is behaving like… well, like you, me, and toddlers; it takes information from the sensory lobes and processes right in the prefrontal cortex with the executive process, instead of with the lower portion of the frontal lobe like would be expected so soon after puberty—that chemical in his brain is being produced now when it should not be, based on his body's chronological age… It doesn't make any sense, it's like he's really just a toddler stuck in a teenager's body." He paused, looking at the detective to see his reaction.

L sat in his famed thinking-position, his eyes no longer focused on the MRI images, having already memorized them. He placed a thumb to his lips, asking, "Have you never heard of a case like this, where a person regresses and show's Light-kun's strange symptoms?"

The doctor let loose a frustrated sigh, "There are instances where patients have regressed to varying states of childhood and infancy, but there was always some sort of physical cause; brain injury, traumatic emotional experiences, even exposure to certain toxins. But, you stated that this change was sudden, happening in barely a moment, so emotional trauma is ruled out. Blood work shows no signs of toxins, and the scans show no brain injury. The causes of his regression are a complete mystery, conventional diagnosis doesn't explain it—"

"What about unconventional diagnosis?" L shot out abruptly, staring intently at the doctor, "Things never thought possible, things that defy the rules of physics, have been happening around the world as of late; criminals killed with only a name and a face by someone halfway across the globe…"

The doctor, slightly startled by the detective's outburst, raised a grey eyebrow at the pale man sitting like a spidermonkey, "Unconventional… If I abandon all medical knowledge and common sense, I'd say some supernatural force, whether the hand of God or a demon, had wiped the boy's memories and turned back his developmental clock to that of when he was a toddler."

END of ch 3!

A/N: Dun dun dun dun~! XD Ohoho, did I leave you with a tense moment? *eyebrow wiggle of doom* Ah, I made this chappie nice and long for you, I hope it all fits together! Wah, that's actually a long chapter for me, I'm usually so lazy! XD I hope I didn't get too wordy for you, and I was just guessing about the pattern of activity that would be shown in someone with head trauma—don't hold me to it! DX

Wellll, let me know how it's going, and I'll work on the next chapter, b/c I'm actually inspired, oh-ehm-gee! X'D

LEAVE ME SOME LOVE! And candy; preferably lollipops, as you can tell from this chapter that I've been craving them.


	4. Chapter 4

_For warnings, disclaimer, and important info, please see chapter 1!_

_*Oh, and I wanted to clarify a few points. When I started writing this, I had not read/watched Death Note recently, so I got some of my facts wrong. Here are the changes I made from the original series, sorry for any confusion or inconsistencies with the rationale of the series' plot:_

_- Light gave up his memory a week into confinement in the series, but in this fic he gave it up after at least 2 months._

_- In the series, the killing of criminals stopped shortly after Light was put into confinement, and the killings started back up not long after Light gave up his memories. In this fic, the killing of criminals started back up after 3 weeks of confinement._

_-In the series, Light and Misa were kept in different locations from the task force and one another during their confinement, and L had not yet moved into his big HQ building. In this fic, he had already moved into HQ and Light and Misa were each contained in their own secluded cells in the basements of the HQ._

_**Innocence Ch 4**_

_Subtitle: Beginnings of Maternal Reprecussions and the Pen Fight_

The room hurriedly set up just that morning to contain Light was nowhere near as impressive as the room they had spent the day with Dr. Gregorwhich in, mostly due to the time-constraints in preparing both the doctor's room and Light's. Truth be told, there were rooms like Light's and the doctor's on every floor of the 23-story building (and in the two basements as well); safe rooms, essentially, that could be completely locked down.

Entering the hurriedly set-up room with his cranky son, Soichiro found himself in a room roughly the same size and shape as the doctor's. The heavy metal door closed behind him once he had entered some two feet into the room, the sound of various internal locks sliding into place making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end—there was no way out of the room save through L or Watari… Shaking off the paranoid feelings eating away at the edges of his tired mind, the man carried his son farther into their new surroundings, looking around at the very different room with a growing sense of dread: a large area divided with a partial wall running along the middle of the rectangular room with white walls; white linoleum floors with a crème rectangular rug some ten feet in area positioned in the middle of the expansive floor; a small wooden table large enough for four off to the right side with four plain, white chairs. Walking slowly around the partial wall, he found two twin beds with plain linens pushed end-to-end against the left wall, which was about a quarter shorter than the right wall of the other … room(if you could call a partially divided area a room) due to another partial wall running perpendicular from the left wall. Mr. Yagami lay Light on the closest bed, where the toddler-teen contentedly sucked away at his rapidly dissolving lollipop, and walked the short distance to the partitioned area. Not at all surprised, he found a simple bathroom with a toilet, sink, and tub affixed with a showerhead, all hidden from view by the partial wall. Opening the cupboards under the sink, which appeared to be the only storage area in the entire divided room, he found a stack of pull-ups, a few towels and washcloths, and other basic toiletries. The man walked back to the beds, sitting down on the one not occupied by his son, letting the significance of design of the room register in his mind—no windows, the only exit heavily secured, no doors nor excess furnishings, minimal privacy; it was still a prison cell, only with a few more comforts and no bars. Looking dully upwards, he noted that the lights were the same florescent ones the cells had been equipped with, and there were no light switches nor even electrical outlets in sight. Everything in the room was probably controlled electronically by L, even the air circulation. They were still imprisoned, the man thought with a pang of despair, which meant that Light was still suspected of having some sort of involvement in the Kira case. "_At least it's not the actual cell,"_ the haggard ex-police chief grimly reminded himself.

"Mmm, Daddy, I went potty," Light murmured indifferently past his candy as the wetness invaded his training pants, oblivious to the sharp increase in his father's distress.

_Linebreak – Linebreak – Linebreak –Linebreak – Linebreak_

His doctor was much too sane, L thought glumly to himself as the old man continued to drop subtle hints about the dangers of the various sugars constantly entering his mouth while they discussed Light's case profile.

"Moving beyond the degradation of my body," L intoned loudly past the doctor's complaints, "We really should discuss what is to be done about Miss Amane."

The stubborn doctor gave a conceding sigh, "Yes… You said that she did not appear to regress mentally?"

The hunched man played with the dish of candied fruits to his left, his head lolling back to stare unseeingly at the ceiling, answering monotonously as ever, "No, not quite. She, like Light-kun, seems to have part of her life erased or suppressed, but to a vastly slighter extent: weeks, at the most, is the amount of time and memories that she lost. As opposed to Light's case, hers is mild, like a paper cut compared to a flesh-eating disease."

Glancing over at the monitors showing various video feeds of the building's star occupants, the old doctor stared with a professional eye at the subdued Misa, still bound and blindfolded and quite unaware of the excitement of the past 24 hours.

Rifling through the files of Misa's medical and school history, which had already been in L's possession for weeks, the doctor furrowed his eyebrows, asking, "Is there really that much of a threat posed by her? Shouldn't she at least be unrestrained at this point?"

The detective answered quickly, "Too much of a security risk, I'm afraid—"

"Ah," Dr. Gregorwhich interrupted smoothly, tapping Light's case file, "but, if the same symptoms are shown, it is the same 'disease,' and if it is the same disease, it will produce the same effects, even if to varying degrees; you yourself speculated that this odd condition's aim is to effectively render the victim harmless… Light is, by all appearances, harmless at the moment, so it is also only logical to surmise that Misa has also been rendered harmless. She could be safe."

His dilated eyes seeming to darken beyond their normal hue, L spoke lowly, "I do not take chances, especially when that 'harmless' girl could kill with only a face—lives are on the line, including yours and mine. Light-kun is still in confinement for a reason, as is Misa. I move only on hard facts, so I can be sure—"

"You're not." The doctor interrupted again, this time with a hard look of his own, "You are not sure she's this second Kira, you're just _mostly _sure of it because evidence points towards it, and you locked her up on that incomplete assurance. The evidence suggests that Miss Misa is _most likely_ not dangerous, but you will not give the same value to that evidence and let her at least be placed under less harsh conditions?" He shook his head in frustration at the young detective, coming close to pointing his finger disapprovingly.

L stuck out his bottom lip, pouting at the scolding. Three and a half minutes of moody silence reigned while the doctor focused his patient gaze on the screens and L moped, going over a host of possibilities and percentages in his mind.

With a slight sigh, he asked of the doctor, "Would you need to give her the same extent of psychological evaluations as Light?"

The doctor answered with a approving smile, "No, mainly a medical examination… Oh, hello Watari, it's good to see you again." Indeed, the other old gentleman entered the monitoring room to report on his own findings and receive new instructions…

_Linebreak – Linebreak – Linebreak – Linebreak – Linebreak _

In the break room (the only sanctuary in the intimidating building), three tired officers sat like zombies at a circular table, cups of strong coffee in their hands in place of brains.

"How d'you think Light-kun and the chief are doin'?" Matsuda slurred sleepily from his slumped position, near his breaking point after 48 hours with only 5 hours of sleep interspersed between frantic caffeine highs.

Aizawa, his temper long gone along with his sleep pattern, snapped, "We had to go buy _diapers _and other baby crap, how do you _think _they're doing? !"

Matsuda ducked his head in fear, murmuring to his coffee, " Trainin' pants, not diapers."

Mogi, ever the quite one, had his eyes closed, leaning back in his chair as if trying to catch a few moments of semi-sleep. The three sat there, nursing their coffee and enjoying the blessed lull in their frenzied work until L gave them more tasks—in the last 24 hours, they had worked practically nonstop to prepare two rooms, buy and move vast amounts furniture and equipment, obtain a ghastly amount of obscure paperwork and documents, do tedious research, and, of course, supply the pale detective with whatever else he demanded at the drop of a hat. To say the three men were tired was a sad understatement.

The door to the break room opened, and three pairs of bloodshot eyes turned as one to watch the mysterious old butler enter with an empty serving tray filled with dirty dishes.

Seeing the load of dishes, the over-worked Matsuda let out a long, self-suffering whine, "I don't _wanna _do _dishes_!" Aizawa furiously threw his spoon at the officer for his 'audacity to act like an idiot around him while he was sleep-deprived,' the younger officer falling off his chair to avoid the metal object. Mogi simply stirred his coffee again, too tired to intervene.

Watari let out a chuckle as he moved through the break room over to the small kitchen area. Depositing the dishes efficiently into the large dishwasher, he set about preparing the Yagami's dinner. Bringing out the ingredients necessary from the cupboards and large refrigerator, he spoke calmly to the officers some fifteen feet away, "After much consideration on L's part, it has been decided that Misa will be placed into a room much like the Yagami's, so you will have to go about setting up one—"

"Noooo~!" Matsuda wailed while the other two men made noises of distress.

" -in the morning, after a full night's rest." Watari finished calmly, relaying L's uncharacteristically humane orders.

Sighs of relief met his statement, and Watari kept his quite laughter to himself while he prepared the small dinner.

_Linebreak – Linebreak – Linebreak – Linebreak – Linebreak _

Mr. Yagami truly missed the changing table they had in Light's room as a baby, as he also missed how easy it had been to change the diaper of a child lighter than a bowling ball. He was tired, Light was tired, and while there was no changing table there was a tub. His second bath of that long day, Light was divested of his clothes and pull-up and placed in the tub to simply wash away the 'accident.' Again, there was a small fit about bubbles and toys, but the flexible showerhead cleaned the boy's lower half quickly before he could work himself up into a tantrum. Lifting the still-limp boy out of the drained tub, Mr. Yagami set him on the toilet to dress him, instructing flatly as he pulled the T-shirt back over his son's head, "When you feel like you need to… go potty, you tell me so we don't have anymore accidents. We've been through potty training before, you know that." It was true enough, Light having potty-trained at 2 years and 3 months.

Light knew he had been potty-trained, it had happened not too long ago, but he just had yet another accident, much to his frustration. Hearing his father speak to him in such a tired, clipped way made him believe his daddy to be upset at him for his failure—which was, of course, the worst thing that could happen in his mind aside from being left alone. The young man hung his head while his father pulled his unresponsive arms through his shirt, and before Soichiro could wonder what was happening, he found himself confronted with a sniffling, sobbing son.

"L-Light?" he asked, having no clue what had set him off this time.

Light cried to his bewildered father he now believed despised him, "I-I-I _sorry_! Uwahhhh~!"

Soichiro would bury his face in his hands if he did not have a pair of pull-ups in them at the moment. Forcing his voice to a calming tone appropriate for small children, he attempted to pull the distressed boy out of his hysterics, "It's not your fault, Light; accidents will happen. I'm not mad. You just have to remember to tell someone when you feel like you need to go potty." He hoped it would be enough to calm the boy down, but as often happened these past few days, he was wrong.

"I-I want Momma!" Light wailed, wanting his affectionate mother's presence in this upsetting situation. Mr. Yagami froze, the issue of Sachiko appearing much sooner than he had predicted. He hated lying to his children, but what else was he supposed to do in this situation?

"Mom is gone at work," He invented lamely. If only Light weren't such an intelligent boy…

"Momma no work, Daddy work!" He bawled, struggling to move his limp body off the toilet to find his missing mother. Restraining his malnourished son was easy, but that was the only aspect of this situation that was.

"She got a job, and she won't be back for awhile," He tried again, his voice soft and comforting. The boy didn't want to listen.

"Mamamama~!" He howled, squirming on the toilet lid.

"She'll be back later, calm down," Soichiro attempted to soothe, his patience wearing thin.

"I-I wan my momma!" the tired teen continued to sob, resisting the other's attempts to slip on the training pants.

Switching tactics, the elder Yagami firmly held Light by his shoulders, and, giving him 'the look,' stated, "You are being very naughty." Light choked off his sob, looking up in open-mouthed horror at his father as he continued on without so much as a touch of anger, "if you don't behave then you'll go to time-out." The threat of time-out either distracted the teen from thoughts of his mother or was so great a punishment as to demand complete compliance; either way, the boy calmed and ceased his exclamations. Soichiro quickly wiped his face and finally tugged the pull-up on his son. The first leg was slipped into the soft cotton pants, only to be stopped by a surprised noise from Light.

"Daddy," Light interrupted, his voice croaky from the number of tantrums he had thrown in the past 24 hours, "I gotta potty." Soichiro sighed in relief that he would not have to change another diaper so soon.

_Linebreak – Linebreak – Linebreak – Linebreak – Linebreak_

Once more alone in the survielliance room, the detective sat watching the monitors showing the various images of the Yagami's new living area. L pursed his lips thoughtfully, pondering over the situation of the boy's missing mother. Pulling out his cell phone with his two-digit grip, he called Watari.

_Linebreak – Linebreak – Linebreak – Linebreak – Linebreak_

Light had been taken out into the other room (again, if you could call it that) and set upon the large, soft rug while his father sat in a chair at the table, waiting for their dinner to come with impatient bellies.

"Daddy, I's hungry!" Light whined from his prone position on the rug, "When we gonna eat?"

"Soon, Light," Mr. Yagami replied patiently, unable to fault his son for feeling hungry. Another 2 minutes passed before Watari finally appeared, pushing a serving cart in front of him. The metal door shut and locked behind the elderly man.

"Watari-san!" Light exclaimed from his spot on the rug at the appearance of the nice old man he had spent much of the day with. Watari smiled indulgently at the boy.

"My apologies for the wait," the butler said benignly, bringing the trolley up to the little table and loading the plates of food onto the surface with help from the elder Yagami. "I would have been here sooner, but I thought that these might help…" From the bottom shelf of the trolley he brought out a bib and sippy cup, which Mr. Yagami gratefully accepted, and what appeared to be a large highchair tray to attach to one of the chairs (which nearly made the other cry in happiness).

"Thank you so much," Soichiro said with a sigh, relieved that the task of feeding Light would be less difficult than necessary. He made to go gather his son, still lying on the rug some fifteen feet away, only to be stopped by a quite cough from the older man. My. Yagami raised a questioning eyebrow, and the other man spoke quietly:

"Ryuzaki would like to speak with you in private after Light has gone to sleep. He is monitoring you both, so as soon as you are certain he is asleep, you are to wait by the door. I will bring you to his rooms." Giving the other man an encouraging smile, Watari walked with the empty cart back the length of the room, throwing over his shoulder, "I'll retrieve the dishes in two hours, so take your time."

Light was sat upon a chair, the tray affixed, bib tied comfortably around his neck, and his sippy cup filled with milk from a pitcher; the familiarity of the objects in his regressed state making him content even as he was fed 'icky' vegetables. The dinner passed in relative peace, both males quickly devouring their food. Once finished after barely a half hour, Mr. Yagami decided that it was time for bed though it was only 7:20; they were both exhausted from their strenuous day and ready for some rest.

Remembering the old routine from when Light was chronologically a toddler, Soichiro carried Light into the bathroom; a quickly fought battle to brush his son's teeth (the toothbrush and paste being supplied under the sink), a hurried wash of his face, and one last check of his pull-up along with the sure to be oft-repeated question 'do you have to potty?' and Light was ready for bed. No other clothes were to be seen in the barren room, so Light was simply placed under his covers and told to sleep.

"Bright~!" Light whined obstinately from his bed, muffled when his father wordlessly pulled the blanket over his head; there was nothing he could do about the lights since there was no switch, and L most likely wanted them left on for observation.

Soichiro sat down on his cot, waiting for his son to fall asleep. Light, despite the strenuous day, seemed to be struggling to stay awake. Suppressing a sigh, the elder Yagami repeated his command, "Go to sleep now, Light."

The figure under the white blanket squirmed slightly, a groggy voice emanating from the covers, "Wanna say g'night to Momma when she come back."

Clenching his fists to control his won-thin temper, Soichiro repeated, "Go to sleep. Mom won't be back for awhile."

Light gave a drawn-out whine, but stilled his movements. Within a half minute, his slowed breathing could be seen from under the covers, signaling he had finally succumbed to sleep. Soichiro rose from his cot and quietly left the room.

Glancing around the eerily barren living room, the exhausted man stood expectantly in front of the metal door. He did not have to wait long, just as he expected, before the metal door swung open. Watari, looking the same as ever, smiled motioned slightly for the elder Yagami to follow him. He, of course, did so, the door closing and locking behind him once more to leave his son locked in the lifeless room. Falling in step with the old gentleman, Mr. Yagami made his way through the maze of hallways to where the detective lay in wait…

Watari bid Soichiro farewell at one of the countless, identical doors some ten stories above where he had left Light. The old man walked briskly away to do who knows what (make a cake, make a pipe bomb?), and Mr. Yagami knocked on the nondescript door.

"Come in," the unmistakable monotone answered, and Soichiro entered the room.

His eyes adjusting to the dim light in the room, Soichiro stumbled past piles of paper and candy wrappers towards where the detective site on the couch in a nest of sugary mess.

"Sit," L intoned, motioning vaguely at the armchair adjacent to the couch. Moving a carton of melted ice-cream off the expensive piece of furniture, Soichiro collapsed into the armchair.

"So," L stated, peering like an overgrown owl at the slumped figure of Mr. Yagami, "enjoy having a baby again?"

Too tired to laugh at the not-funny joke, Soichiro mumbled, "It's much harder near fifty than thirty."

L gave a dry chuckle, "I can only imagine. Now," L brought a stack of stapled papers with tiny print up to eye-level, "if you could just sign over custody of Light-kun, I believe we can both retire for the evening."

"W-what!" Soichiro sputtered, nearly falling out of his chair.

"Perhaps you should read the report I have compiled on Light's current predicament, and, of course, the attached custody papers," L spoke, lightly shaking the papers in an indication for the other to take them. Wordlessly, the he did so.

Nearly a half hour passed in silence as Mr. Yagami poured over the document in silence. When he finally looked up, his face showed no emotion—which meant that he was either not surprised at the information or in shock. L correctly guessed the latter.

"So…?" L prompted dully.

"'So?' what?" Soichiro asked in a matching monotone.

"Are you going to ask for a pen to sign over custody?" L supplied, rummaging through his heap of candied garbage for a pen.

"I…" Soichiro began, looking down at the papers in his aging hands, "maybe you could explain a few things to me first," he looked back up at the detective to find him licking what appeared to be frosting off a gold and ebony trimmed fountain pen.

Pausing in his 'cleaning' of the pen, L leveled him with a questioning stare, "I thought you read the papers— they can answer all your questions, I'm 96.8% sure. Did you just spend half an hour admiring the print, Yagami-san? "

Furrowing his brow slightly in agitation, the first sign of emotion since the man sat down L noted with satisfaction, Soichiro flipped through the pages of the document and read aloud, " _'Due to a possibly irreparable mental and developmental regression, patient Light Yagami is recommended to be put under discreet observation by the care of professionals.' _" The man looked up from the paper to the detective, his eyes narrowing, "Irreparable damage means that he'll stay this way for good, right?"

"Most likely," L relplied, "an—"

"So," Soichiro cut across in a louder voice, "Why can't I just take him home and have my wife and I care for him? Isn't that what's normally done?" He glared at the other, knowing the words about to come from the wild-haired man's mouth.

"He is still a suspect." L stated simply. Soichiro swore under his breath. "Since you evidently did read the document, then you must know the theory I and the doctor proposed as to how Light came to be this way."

"Yes, I read it," Mr. Yagami returned with a slow shake of the head, "but I don't agree with it—my son would never kill anyone, he's not Kira, he never has been! And he would never do anything to make him become like this!" He ran a hand over his face tiredly, the stress clearly showing in his tensed frame.

"The theory makes sense." L rebutted stolidly, and continued on when Mr. Yagami opened his mouth to retort, "Even if there is little evidence to back it up, the fact that there is any at all gives more than enough credence to keep Light-kun under surveillance."

"Why not install cameras in my house again and let him come home?" Soichiro asked, a hint of pleading in his voice, "we raised him once, we can do it again—and you can watch him just the same as you're doing now."

L, however, shook his head, "No, Light-kun is too highly suspected to possibly go back to a domestic setting. He has to be kept away from the public –"

"Criminals have been dying for over a _month_ now!" Soichiro interrupted the other with an aggravated cry, "He has had no access to any information on the criminals being killed, how can he _possibly_ be Kira?"

L gave a small sigh, "I know, Mr. Yagami, but criminals stopped dying for a brief period when Light was first imprisoned—"

"But—" Soichiro attempted to cut across again, but L continued in a louder monotone.

"—and then criminals started to die again after three weeks of his imprisonment, despite his lack of information on criminals and his surveillance-_ after_ Misa's slight loss of memory. Just yesterday, he underwent a change that caused him to lose his memories. It is all connected, Mr. Yagami, and until we either catch Kira or can prove Light 100% innocent, he will have to remain a suspect—which means he will have to remain here. And given his compromised state in addition to his possible involvement in the Kira conspiracy, I would rather have him under my personal care, with his safety insured and his needs met, instead in that of yours: where he would be a burden to your family and might revert to Kira, or you may make an error in judgment that could cost lives due to your fondness of him… And I believe we would both rather him not be in the 'care' of the _government_." A chill ran through Soichiro's spine as the man's emotionless voice stopped, picturing what might happen to his son at the hands of those in the government.

L once again held the pen out for the other, quietly murmuring, "In signing over custody to me, you are doing so in Light-kun's best interests."

Soichiro stared at the pen, its beautiful contrast of gold-gilding on ebony marred by a drip of spittle, and gave a sigh. He had made up his mind.

END of Ch 4

A/N: Well, I finally finished chapter 4! And I ended it on a cliffy, ohoho~ XD Will Soichiro sign over custody? Does Watari ever sleep? Will Light ever potty in the toilet again? Did Matsuda ever do the dishes? You'll have to wait until I crank out the next chapter! XDDD

Well, since it's been so insanely long since last updated this, I really need to know that there are people interested in me continuing this (at a faster pace, of course). _So, please leave me a comment_—say what you like, what you think I could do better, what you think is going to happen, what you want to happen, etc. Just tell me something, even if it is just a simple 'hey, keep it going, I want to see more!'

Well, I got to go work on another update for something else, buh-bye!


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